RELEX and Retail Business Services: Enhancing Grocery Freshness

For the last year, RELEX has been working closely with Hannaford and Food Lion, local brands of Ahold Delhaize USA, on a pilot to improve forecasting and replenishment for fresh products. Starting in 2019, we’ll be expanding our partnership through a new agreement with Ahold Delhaize USA’s services company, Retail Business Services, to provide an innovative, integrated solution for forecasting and replenishment, which will support each of Ahold Delhaize USA’s local brands, including Hannaford, Food Lion, Giant Food, GIANT/MARTIN’s, Stop & Shop and Peapod, the U.S.’s leading online grocer.

We’re partnering with Retail Business Services to make sure consumers that shop these local grocery brands, which together comprise the largest grocery retail group on the East Coast, always have access to the freshest products, whether shopping in-store, picking up or getting their groceries delivered. RELEX’s technology solution will enable enhanced supply chain visibility and collaboration that will support the grocery brands’ strategies to provide their customers with a leading omnichannel experience and fresh groceries always.

With a solid proof of concept from the Food Lion and Hannaford pilots, Retail Business Services can move forward confident in RELEX’s ability to deliver results in a timely and efficient manner.

The completion of the successful pilots with Food Lion and Hannaford helped Retail Business Services reach the decision to scale the RELEX implementation as a service to each of the U.S. brands. With over 2,100 stores and 12 distribution centers, the local brands of Ahold Delhaize USA manage some of the most significant supply chain operations on the East Coast. Replacing legacy systems on that scale requires significant investment of resources and, just as importantly, time. With a solid proof of concept from the Food Lion and Hannaford pilots, Retail Business Services can move forward confident in RELEX’s ability to deliver results in a timely and efficient manner.

It’s exciting to consider what Ahold Delhaize USA’s brands can achieve, with RELEX serving as the platform that helps ensure its local brands make the most of their supply chain data. One of our core values at RELEX is to deliver measurable value to our customers, and RELEX VP of Operations North America Tiina Kanninen highlighted the importance of holding ourselves accountable as we work toward our KPIs. “We’re of course focused on the numbers — accurately forecasting demand, increasing availability and optimizing inventory levels,” she said. “But we also can’t forget that the ultimate goal is to support Ahold Delhaize USA’s brands as they improve the shopping experience for their customers.”

“By implementing this game-changing solution, Retail Business Services is further enabling Ahold Delhaize USA’s local brands to deliver on their ambitions to be there for their customers anytime, anywhere with the freshest products,” said Chris Lewis, EVP of Supply Chain for Retail Business Services. “Not only will it provide local brand stores with the flexibility they need to best serve their customers, it will drive a complete supply chain transformation at a time when customer expectations are rapidly changing the way groceries are bought, sold and delivered.”

As in any great working relationship, RELEX and Retail Business Services have a shared vision: unified, end-to-end forecasting and replenishment processes. “We’re humbled by the trust they’ve shown in the work we’ve done together so far,” said Michael Falck, RELEX President, North America. “And, we’re excited to see the outcomes our solution will help these brands to drive.”

Read the full press release from Retail Business Services here.